


the principle of maximum-happiness

by crownsandbirds



Series: #TeamIronMan [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Civil War Team Iron Man, Gen, Not A Fix-It, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), and in this one he gets all the better, not team Cap friendly, tony deserved better
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-02
Updated: 2018-06-02
Packaged: 2019-05-17 08:05:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14828532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crownsandbirds/pseuds/crownsandbirds
Summary: "When had his daily life become so… nice?Probably around the same time he had decided for himself that he deserved good things and people who saw how much love he was capable of and didn't turn that against him. People who listened to his ramblings and didn't treat him as someone annoying who had to be dealt with in order for them to make use of his genius."Tony Stark's life is good.





	the principle of maximum-happiness

**Author's Note:**

  * For [okayantigone](https://archiveofourown.org/users/okayantigone/gifts).



> "Utilitarianism is based off of the Greatest Happiness Principle, which states that actions are considered moral when they promote utility and immoral when they promote the reverse. Utility itself is defined by Mill as happiness with the absence of pain. The main elements of this philosophy are one's actions and their resulting utility. A person is considered moral when their actions tend to promote utility of the general public in accordance with the principle of maximum happiness."

The constant buzzing coming from Tony's brand new phone on top of his desk was doing a fine job of not only distracting him from all the paperwork he had to do, but also from the gentle, polite knock on his closed door.

_ mr. stark _

_ you should hurry home today _

_ maybe _

_ if nothing at work keeps you i mean _

_ it's not an emergency or anything _

_!! _

_ everyone's okay dw _

_ as far as i know _

_ just _

_ come hooome _

 

Tony smiled at the screen. Like it happened frequently whenever Peter rambled, be it on face-to-face conversations or through texting, he felt his shoulders relax with how affectionate and fond that boy made him. 

_ i will hurry home _ , he typed back, biting his lower lip to try and contain the grin threatening to take over his face. 

_ what do you need- _ he started typing before deleting it and starting again. 

_ what do you want me for? _ he texted back at last. He was still trying to get used to the idea of people wanting him around not only because they needed him to do something or other for them, but because they genuinely considered his company special and precious. It was a very comforting sensation, made it all together more consistent because of how Peter still hadn't quite let go from his admiration towards absolutely everything Tony did and it didn't look like he would anytime soon. And also because of how Rhodey and Pepper were constantly dragging him out of doing overtime at work to go do harmless things like having coffee in his favorite coffeeshop around the corner for no reason other than 'it's a nice day outside' or 'you had a bad day, you deserve it'. 

_ i have a surprise for you !!  _ , said Peter's text that arrived two seconds after Tony had sent his answer.

Coming from Peter, a surprise could mean anything from a box of chocolate donuts and a brand new robot running around the lab, to a genius answer for a problem Tony was having with one of his experiments.

When had his daily life become so… nice?

Probably around the same time he had decided for himself that he deserved good things and people who saw how much  _ love _ he was capable of and didn't turn that against him. People who listened to his ramblings and didn't treat him as someone annoying who had to be dealt with in order for them to make use of his genius. 

 

_ i'll definitely hurry home then _

_ i'll tell work not to bother me _

_ for anything short than the building catching on fire _

_ and/or another alien invasion _

 

He allowed himself a small laugh at how Peter answered to that with apparently all the smiley emojis he could find on his phone. This good, smart, easily excited boy.

The gentle knocking came again a few minutes later. Tony sighed and hoped he could dismiss whatever had come up, since his shift was almost over and he really needed to eat something of substance other than quick sandwiches over reports and blueprints. He gave an imaginary pat on his own back for ascertaining he needed to eat without immediately feeling guilty about it. 

"Come in," he called out as he straightened his watch on his wrist. 

"Dr. Stark," his secretary said, and Tony was pleased to confirm that people now seemed to  _ remember _ that he actually had a good number of doctorates and were willing to give him that title and credit, "I'm really sorry to bother, but there are some people on the ground floor who want to speak to you."

"Well, you'll have to be more specific, there are always people on the ground floor wanting to speak to me."

"It's… Steve Rogers, sir - doctor. With... some other people. And reporters." 

Tony sighed once again. He wasn't in the mood. He would never be in the mood for them. But he supposed that conversation had to happen at some point. 

"Very well, I'll speak to them." 

"Okay, I'll send them up-" 

"No, no. They don't come here. I'll take the elevator down. I was already going home anyway." he reached for the jacket of his Tom Ford three-piece suit that was draped on the back of his chair.  _ And I really don't intend to drag out the conversation _ , he added calmly in his mind. His genius intern had a surprise for him at home and he'd promised to go visit Dr. Strange at night so they could talk about some experiments regarding the possibility to safely use magical energy in technology. 

The possibilities were endless. 

He granted himself a moment of pride as the elevator went down the many, many floors, allowing him to witness a gorgeous sight of the city as the sun went down. When he arrived at the ground floor, outside the sliding glass doors, the sidewalk was littered with cameras and reporters and, in front of them all, Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes and Natasha Romanoff. 

Tony turned his back on them with the pretense of biding his receptionist goodbye and a good weekend to all the employees, just to take some time to put his sunglasses on and shift his face to the media-pleasing smile he was once again famous for.

When he walked outside at last, he took an unnoticeable breath, closed his eyes behind the dark lenses and hugged Rogers as firmly as he could. 

"Buddy, it's been a while!" he exclaimed as the flashes went out behind them. To the other's ear, he whispered, "Don't assume anything.  _ Play nice for the cameras _ . I still want to punch you right in your perfect teeth."

He let Captain go and tried not to look too relieved as he did so, before clapping both Natasha and Bucky on the shoulders. "You should've called! I could've shown you the place, but now unfortunately I'm on my way out."

"That's a very impressive building you got there, Stark," Natasha says, smiling like she would rather be anywhere else right now. 

"I'll show you around later," the lie came off smoothly and friendly. "For now, let's see what our other friends want." he turned to the reporters with his prize-winning, MIT successful alumnus grin. "Shoot off your questions, guys, c'mon, let's enjoy the nice sunset for the picture taking, everyone knows I look better in golden lighting." 

The polite chuckles gave way for the endless influx of questions. Tony wished Pepper could be here to filter them out. 

"Dr. Stark-" someone said and Tony zeroed on them immediately.

"You called me doctor, I like you already. Yes, what's your question?"

"Does this meeting mean Captain Rogers and the others will be a part of the new Avengers initiative?"

"I mean, I don't think any of us want to talk business right now," he said, deflecting the question. "We have so much catching-up to do before we start putting anything down on paper. Friendship before work and all of that. Next?"

"Captain Rogers, is this the first time you hear about Dr. Stark's initiative to create a private organization similar to what SHIELD was?"

Steve's smile was gorgeously blinding, but Tony was pleased to see how they all looked underdressed compared to himself and his Tom Ford. "Definitely not the first time, but I am looking forward to hearing all the details from the man himself."

"For the record," Tony said, because he knew how predatory the media could be, and he wasn't about to let any misunderstandings reach the press, "for the record, let it be known that this isn't a way of surpassing the authority of the Sokovia Accords. It's simply a way of making the task of supervising Enhanced individuals easier. The whole thing was built following all the clauses of the Accords, and it was approved by the UN panel." 

Inside the breast pocket of his suit, his phone buzzed to let him know that his car was nearing him to take him home. His shoulders nearly sagged with relief. "Okay, my car is almost here and it's getting too dark to take nice pictures, so two more questions before we leave."

"Dr. Stark and Captain Rogers, what are your takes on the Sokovia Accords' efforts to cover underage Enhanced individuals?"

Well, easy one. "I personally think it's unrealistic to expect that every Enhanced person will be an adult. We need to talk about that and I trust that, together with both their parents and the UN, we will be capable of finding a middle ground that satisfies everyone and keeps our children and our world safe, since those must be the priorities above all."

Steve clapped his back and Tony had to physically fight the impulse to activate his suit and throw him across the street. "I agree with Tony. The international community will find a solution that works best and keeps our children safe."

"Dr. Stark! What next for the Avengers?"

Tony was already entering his car, parked on the side of the road, and ushering the others inside when he stuck his head out to answer. "The possibilities are endless. Guess you'll just have to wait and see."

The car took off, leaving his building and the reporters behind on the sidewalk. He took a deep breath, took off his sunglasses and turned to the three people on the backseat. 

"Okay, no more playing nice now," he said, loudly enough to stop them from interrupting. It was on moments like those he was most glad to have enough technology in his hands to be able to ditch the necessity of a driver. "No, if it's up to me, you are  _ not _ invited to the new initiative. I  _ won't _ show you around. I'm not even taking you to the lab. And those are not up to debate since all of those things currently belong to me."

He turns to Bucky, who's staring at him with wide, uncertain eyes. "Bucky, you, and  _ only you _ , are welcome in my building. If you're comfortable with it, me and Peter - Spiderman, he interns for me now - would like to make you a new arm since I ripped your old one out during Siberia. I'm not saying sorry for that, considering you were trying to rip the heart out of my chest, but I don't hold you responsible or anything. And we could make a very awesome, very cool, kickass metal arm for you." 

"I'm sorry for trying to rip your heart out of your chest," Bucky says sheepishly. 

"It's okay. The offer stands. How do you feel about portable missile projectiles? We can show you some blueprints. I would tell you directions for the laboratory but all you have to do is go towards the tallest building. That one there. You can't miss it. And that's about all I have to say." 

"Must be easy to have so much money to do so much when you're pulling an unofficial embargo on Wakanda," Steve says and Tony loses it.

"Okay. Fine. You want to talk economy? Let's talk economy. I don't make accords with Wakanda because I don't trust a country with tons and tons of the most resistant metal in the universe with whom it would be impossible to maintain equanimous economic trades and agreements with them. T'Challa is a great king but he doesn't really have experience in diplomacy and international relations and the worldwide economic scenario - no, don’t, I’m not finished -” he said to cut off the string of protesting that Rogers had definitely opened his mouth to say, “I don't even know how their laboratories  _ work _ when it comes to ownership and trade policies, and I don't trust a scientific environment that's so completely in the hands of a government - and a monarchy at that. Not to mention, God knows what  _ our _ government could do if it got its dirty little hands on that amount of vibranium. Wakanda lived by itself for centuries, they don't need us to keep doing that."

"You seemed to trust our government well enough when it came to fiscalizing us."

"I'm sure one day you'll understand the difference between the United  _ States _ and the 193 countries that make up the United  _ Nations _ , out of which 117 signed the Sokovia Accords. Any geography book will explain it to you. I certainly don't have the energy to do that." 

Natasha leans forward, looking insulted down to her bones.  _ Good _ , Tony thought.  _ Let her be mad _ . "Look, Tony, I'm sorry for what we did, but it was hard to understand the technicalities of international accords when you really didn't take the time to explain it properly to us-"

"If you can't apologize like a decent human being," he interrupts her sharply, "then I'd rather you didn't say anything at all. I don't need your guilt-tripping non-apologies, and I don't have enough time for you being - how was that word you used again? Hyperverbal? Yes. Look, we all made choices. That's how life works. And in real life I own the great self-driving car that would make Bruce Wayne cry and the two tallest fucking buildings in Manhattan and I get pats in the back from all the Secretaries of State in the world. In real life, I get to do this." 

The car stopped abruptly on its way to the underground parking spot of the laboratories and opened the backseat doors. It was a very clear, easily understandable cue. Not even Tony with his ADHD and autism could miss it. Those three certainly didn't. 

As they walked out, with goodbyes Tony didn't pay attention to, the top floor of the building lit up with something that looked suspiciously like a small-scale explosion.

Immediately after, while the car slid down to the underground parking, his phone buzzed with a text from Peter. 

 

_ so.. _

_ i may have blown some stuff up _

_ but im okay !! and friday too _

_ and it was SO  worth it _

_ i need to show you this _

 

He smiled as he typed back,  _ going up right now don't move _ .

Maybe he would call Dr. Strange and ask him to come over for friday movie night and to help with the cleaning. 

Life in general was an endless possibility. 

**Author's Note:**

> 1- #TeamIronMan  
> 2- i never quite believed that Wakanda had any possibility to have legitimate economic relationships with other countries. i adore T'Challa and Shuri but yeah.


End file.
